"He will be the king of tennis": Former world number one backs Carlos Alcaraz to achieve more than Rafael Nadal

Former world number one Bjorn Borg believes that Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz will achieve more than what former world number one Rafael Nadal achieved in his career. The 21-year-old is already regarded as one of the best players currently playing in men’s tennis in the singles category, along with the likes of Italy’s Lorenzo Musetti.

Alcaraz returned to form as he lifted the Monte-Carlo Masters after beating Italy’s Lorenzo Musetti in the final in straight sets with a score of 3-6, 6-1, 6-0. With that performance, the young Spaniard once again became world number two, overtaking struggling Alexander Zverev in the process.

Former world number one Borg has been recently spoke to RTVE, in which he stated that, in his opinion, Alcaraz will achieve more than Nadal has in his career. The 68-year-old stated that Alcaraz’s ability to play on any surface gives him the advantage over the former world number. "I believe that Alcaraz will achieve the same or more than Nadal,” he said, as quoted by Punto de Break. "He has the right mentality and can play on all surfaces. With a bit of luck, he will be the king of tennis.”

Nadal is regarded as one of the greatest players in the history of men’s tennis in the singles category. After representing his country in the Davis Cup, the 38-year-old retired from the sport in 2024. Nadal finished his career with 22 Grand Slam titles, the second-most in the history of men’s tennis in the singles category in the Open era, just behind Serbia’s Novak Djokovic, who has won 24 major titles. Nadal is also known as the ‘King of Clay’ after winning as many as 14 French Open titles, which is also a record in the history of the competition. He remained world number one for 209 weeks. He also finished the year as the world number one on five occasions.